Reckoning
by WincestSounds
Summary: Epilogue up! Set as complete cuz it kinda is, more different epilogues to come. S3. SUM UP: Jack escapes with Bray & Dal. Ellie left Jack for Luke. Dal's there, his best friend. Dal's always there. Jack/Dal. Character Death.
1. The Prologue Revamped

**Reckoning**

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By: KaKaVegeGurl

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**Author's Note:**

Okay I read this fic over and thought it needed some TLC.

Now that I have indeed seen Season 3, and all up till 5; I'm just going to have fun in changing some things.

I don't want to spoil too much, things will still be the same, only more professionally written and touched up, much more detail and sense.

This is not a Jamber, possibly Jallie though.

Only time will tell.

So sit back and enjoy! Have a nice steaming cup of yaoi!

KaKaVegeGurl

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**Side Notes:**

"..." Thoughts

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**Revamped Prologue**

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He wasn't sure how many days it had been since he'd been thrown in here, three possibly? If not a few more... But he'd remembered he'd put up a pretty good fight before the door was closed and the room was vacant of everyone but him.

He let out a heavy sigh and sat back, staring at the dirty, rusty metal wall in front of him. Looking up at the heavy ceiling he realized that the room looked as if it were just about to cave in on him and smother his body. There wasn't much light for him to see anything with, only a small candle in the farthest corner from him.

A mere three yards away was a sink and a mirror. Both seemed old and unused, there was blood and dirt splattered across them; dried and gritty. The cold stone floor he sat on had definantly seen better days, and over the walls were layers of graffiti as well as chain links leading down in a tight hold around both his wrists and feet.

There was a small, dusty window near the wall to his right, at only one foot of height and two of wideness; but judging from what you could see through it, it was night.

Big metal doors were on the wall closest to his left side. The bed, which was just beside the doors, was both clean and neatly laid out; as if it hadn't been slept on in months.

He sat in the corner alone, cold and dirty on the floor. He face was painted with smudges of dried blood and dirt; the red plaid pants he wore were torn and messy, and his shirt; which was obviously not on him, was lying on the floor near the door. The sneakers on his feet were worn and dirty as well.

He looked like he'd been through a few fights; blood, bruises, and a few scratches were painted across his vivid shell.

Reaching up weakly, he pulled on the chains that held his arms captive, only frowning when the metal links didn't give way. Though it was something he'd expected.

His head dropped down to lay against his knees and closing his eyes he felt them; the stinging in his closed eyes told him that in his mind, he had accepted his defeat. He knew when he was beaten, and this was depressingly one of those times.

He could just smell the death rotting off his body already, the feeling of emptiness settling in around him. He was weak, he was tired, and he was hungry. On the outside his skin was looking gray with discolor, like it was losing all taste. His body looked different but his face was the same, save his eyes.

Empty with sorrow and defeat. They had darkened the most.

Finally standing up on his own two legs, which felt as if they would collapse beneath him, he took one wrist in the other and rubbed it, grimacing at the pain. Looking down he noticed the dried blood and rust that had dug into his skin and felt like he was going to cry again.

The feeling of hopelessness was overwhelming him, it hurt, like someone was cutting him into pieces. As the awareness of a dizzy spell drew over his skull he fell back slowly until he hit the wall and slid down to sit on the ground once more.

It looked to him that things couldn't possibly get any worse then they were already, but just as the thought swam across his mind the door creaked open and a man walked in.

"Alright pretty boy, get off your ass and come here." He had a long metal bar in his hands and a victorious smirk over his face. Light tan spiky hair and the chosen marking on his forehead, "You and one of your friends have been chosen to watch your leader join Zoot. I think you'll enjoy it a lot... Jack."

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**Ending Notes:**

Much better! Wait fer revamped Chapter 1, if I DO revamp it! Review?

KaKaVegeGurl


	2. Chapter 1: An Escape

Reckoning

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Chapter 1 - An Escape

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By: KaKaVegeGurl

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KaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurl

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Chapter one is FINALLY up.

Thought you'd be waiting forever for this one, didn't you? LOL, I'm so sorry, I've been so caught up with all of the other fan fics, I kind of forgot about this one, lol... Oh well... At least I wrote some more, right? I hope you enjoy the bit I wrote for this chapter and hopefully my next update won't take a freakin' year to fulfill! Enjoy my friends, enjoy!

KaKaVegeGurl

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KaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurl

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_To Gal11: "I did plan on writing more, I just didn't plan on it taking this long to write more, LOL, Enjoy yourself!"_

Thanks for the review!

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The sound of drums beating filled Dal's ears as he came back to reality once again, he stood beside his buddy, Jack. The chosen all waited in silence as Mallrat leader Bray was tied to a stake and the 'Supreme Mother' began her way towards him with a burning chunk of wood at her side, Both Dal and Jack's hands were tied before them and their faces were covered dirty with ash and dust.

Jack stood with a slouch to his shoulders, he wore no shirt and his pants were just barely hanging on his hips, he had not eatin in a while, losing a massive amount of weight in such a short time, his bones were tired and his hands were dirty, his hair; which was usually pushed back and soft to the touch was now dishelved and matted to his face with the weight of uncleanliness. His lips were dry and chapped with dehydration, and his eyes looked tired and glassy; unblinking.

The darker skinned of the two stood in shock by his friend, his eyes were wide as he stared to his side at Jack, had he not seen him in so long it wouldn't have felt so weird. Yet it had been almost two weeks since last they met, The red-headed scientist had changed so much in such a little amount of time. A good friend Dal had known for such a short time but had grown very fond of.

And now they both were so different, having came close to the face of death so many times, and yet still they both still cared so much for each other, not a limit stood between them, they had stood beside each other through thick and through thin, and now it seemed like all hope was lost, they really had nothing to live for, Dal had lost his best friend some time ago and now Jack had lost his own too, not by death, but by something much worse.

There was one question, however, that still bugged Dal, did Jack really know about Ellie? Or was he still completely clueless? For a while they still stood quietly as Bray continued to argue with Trudy not to do what she must do, the two stood in their filthy clothes, one looking down and the other staring at him.

Dal opened his mouth to speak in a whisper, as he had not spoken in a while, "Umm... Jack...?"

The orange haired Scientist turned slowly to Dal and softly sniffed a bit through his nose, "Yeah Dal?" He asked as he shifted his weight, pants clinging to his hips.

Dal sighed, still staring up at Jack; his eyes full of curiosity, "Did you... Uhh-D-Do you know about Ellie?"

"Yeah... May told me. She told me before we had to leave..." Jack looked down, nodding sadly as he began fingering his cuffs

"What was that?" Dal asked as he began looking around when he heard a light whistle hanging in the air.

Jack looked around as well and turned nervously back to Dal, "What?"

They both turned back to the crowd when a shouts sprung from some Chosens at the edge of the cliff, where they had disappeared and suddenly the entire group was in chaos, Chosen members were running away back towards the city, leaving Dal and Jack standing there confused, Trudy had also turned and fled with a few others.

The two friends looked at each other and decided to free Bray and make a run for it.

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"Do you think they did it... I mean... Do you think they really killed Bray?"

Patsy stirred slightly at the question and then turned to Cloe, who was sitting beside her, "Why would you ask something like that? That's a terrible thought... I hope he's okay."

"Don't get your hopes up, Patsy." Ellie said backing away from the front doors of the mall, "Here they come, and none of them are with them, no Bray, no Jack, and no Dal."

All of the other Mallrats looked up sadly as the Chosen began entering the Mall once again.

Alice glanced over at her sister to see Ellie's face full of worry.

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KaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurl

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The end of Chapter 1!

I hope you're enjoying yourselves so far, I'm so sorry I couldn't write more, but I hope I'll be able to update MUCH sooner than this one took! sigh Review would you? – Is rhyming again... Dammit! XD

KaKaVegeGurl


	3. Chapter 2: Eagle

Reckoning

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Chapter 2 - Eagle

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By: KaKaVegeGurl

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KaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurl

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Welcome to the finally typed Chapter 2!

I have a tendency of updating things really late, don't I? I'm so sorry you guys, I'll try to update these fanfics much more sooner next time! But for now, just sit back, relax, have a nice STEAMING cup of yaoi, and enjoy!

KaKaVegeGurl

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KaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurl

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_To Gal11: "I did plan on writing more, I just didn't plan on it taking this long to write more, LOL, Enjoy yourself!"_

Thanks for the review!

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ReckoningReckoningReckoningReckoningReckoningReckoningReckoningReckoning

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"She has asked for 'Jack' to come first," Spoke Pride darkly, staring at the three Mallrats, "She does not wish to speak with any others at the moment, I hope you understand."

The Red-Head turned to Dal and Bray, looking at them both nervously, "Me? Why's she want to talk to me?" He stuttered in his thick lisp, voice cracking as well, "I should go?"

Bray nodded, turning back to Dal and then nodding again, "Yeah, go talk to her."

Jack frowned as Pride finally finished breaking his binds, "I-I'll be right back," He stood up and followed the tree-lover to Eagle's room.

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Jack slowly took a step through the door, he looked around for a moment and after a moment his eyes settled on the one named 'Eagle', however, he wasn't shocked to see that it was Amber, considering they had already seen her a moment before.

Jack felt half sub-conscious because he hadn't washed up since he was freed, nor had he eaten a thing, he looked like a bum, but he was relieved to finally see a friendly face; one that wasn't curious of hurting him, or one that didn't know of what had happened.

"Hey, Jack," Eagle finally said, she stood up and gave him a large hug, "How are you?"

Jack backed up a bit to look at her, "I-I'm okay," He said; his voice cracking as he still wasn't use to talking. But for the first time in a while, he smiled, "... Tribe leader? ... I-I don't understand, why didn't you come back to the mall?"

Amber frowned, her hands resting on Jack's shoulders as she stared into his eyes, "Jack... I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Look at you," She turned to the side after looking him up and down sadly, "You look terrible, how long's it been since you've had a bite to eat?"

Jack frowned more, grabbing her wrist lightly before she could do anything, "Amber, stop changing the subject, why didn't you come back?"

"... Because of Bray." The Eco Tribe Leader finally confessed before pulling her wrist out of Jack's grip and moving to her bed to sit down.

"Bray?" Jack furrowed his brows as he thought, crossing his arms lazily over his chest, "Why Bray? You two were in love..."

"It's just..." Eagle sighed, "We had just started to get back together..." She rolled her eyes dramatically, hands resting in her lap, "But, I didn't want to."

Jack watched Amber intently, the wheels in his mind were working over time, "But I thought-"

"Jack," Amber interrupted, "You're thinking too much. Take a break, relax." She stood up again and strolled back over to him, "You need to shower, and you really need to eat, I don't want to deal with all of this right now, not all at once."

Jack nodded slowly and unsurely, "Okay... But you will tell me what happened?" He stared at her.

Amber smiled and nodded, running her hand through Jack's soft red hair, "Hopefully, you'll hear the whole thing."

"So..." The Red-Head started, blushing after Amber's hand, he looking down at his feet, "How's it... Going?" He asked awkwardly.

"It's good," Eagle smiled still, pulling her hand away to rest it back on the Red-Head's shoulder once more, "How are you?"

Jack continued looking down, raising his eyebrows and sighing weakly, he couldn't help but notice the rust marks left on his wrists still from the shackles he wore back at the mall, and then he remembered Ellie, "Not doing so good on my part."

Amber frowned and forced him to look her in the eyes, she had never seen Jack so down, there was so much sorrow in his eyes that she, herself, almost couldn't bare it, what had happened to make him hurt so? "Why not? What's happened?"

The Red-Head paused to think, staring at Amber back, "... I fell in love..." He sneered and looked over to the window, feeling his eyes begin to burn with unshed tears.

"In love?" Amber looked disappointed, crestfallen, "You fell in love? Well that's good, Jack, why are you so down then? What's wrong?"

"Well," Jack started, looking back down to the floor once more, "She sort of... Well, we were together... For a while, before the Chosen took over the city... But now it seems that... She's uh-She's moved on... She cheated on me."

Eagle stared at Jack like she had been stabbed with his pain as well, "Oh gosh..." She breathed, "Jack, ... I'm so sorry. That's horrible-how did you find out?"

"May, one of the new Mallrats," Jack said coldly, nibbling at the inside of his lips, which were chapped due to lack of water, "She told me before we left."

Amber shifted nervously just before pulling Jack into another large hug, "I'm so sorry, Jack," She mumbled, rubbing his back slowly, but she was most surprised when she felt the wetness of tears on her shoulder as Jack began crying.

She almost couldn't take it all in, her and Jack weren't ever the best of friends really, they were quite the opposite, and hardly ever talked to each other, though she had always wanted to do more about it.

And now, here he was after more than a year of them being away from each other, all handsome and grown up, walking around with a broken heart. Standing here, in her arms, crying and weeping of the sorrow that had hit him as hard as anything had ever before.

Amber had never seen Jack so emotional, so fragile, vulnerable. She had never even thought that someone would want to hurt him as much as he was hurting now. She really wished she could do something to make it better for him.

But what could you possibly do to help someone you had almost been enemies with, wanted to be so much more, and had never done so to do so? How do you confront something like this? How do you possibly comfort someone with just as a broken heart as yourself?

What was she suppose to do to stop the pain?

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KaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurlKaKaVegeGurl

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That's it for Chapter 2!

I'm totally sorry for how EXTREMELY late this is, but KaKaVegeGurl will try to do better next time, thank you all for reading and please wait patiently for the next chapter! Please review and tell me what you thought1 Thank you all!

KaKaVegeGurl


	4. Chapter 3: Choices and Mistakes

**Reckoning**

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By: KaKaVegeGurl

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**Author's Note:**

I've decided that fer now I'm going to leave Chapter 1 and 2 as they are. Though this isn't and never was going to be a Jamber.

If you all haven't re-read the prologue, you may want to. It's been re-vamped.

Everyone take a seat and get comfertable! Have a nice steaming cup of yaoi! Enjoy!

KaKaVegeGurl

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**Side Notes:**

"..." Thoughts

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**Chapter 3 - Choices and Mistakes**

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Amber stood up and straightened out her shirt, "I'm sorry to hear that it's been hard for you, Jack."

The red head looked up at her and smiled weakly; he finally stood as well, "It's awlright. I guess it hasn't been that good for you either."

"Nah, not really." Amber patted his shoulder for comfort and made for the door, "I'll see about getting you something to eat. You look really hungry."

Jack nodded slightly, "Well we're all sort of hungry. It's been a long day."

"Alright, well… First we should see about getting you washed up. How did you manage to get that dirty? The others looked fine, but you look like you've been-"

"Beaten badly? Stuck in a dark, dirty room for more then three days without food?" Jack smiled humorously, "Try both."

The Eco Tribe leader frowned, "Well yes, you could say that. Let's… Definitely get you some food and a bath."

Jack walked towards her and grabbed her just above the elbow to stop her from leaving, "Can-can I ask you something?"

"Sure go ahead, Jack." Amber watched him as he turned away and looked out the side window, down the walk, out to the group huddled around a fire.

"Promise not to mention this to any of them?" The red head bit at his thumb's fingernail before looking back at her, "I don't want them to try to talk to me. Or pity me."

Amber nodded finally and made to go for the door once more.

Again Jack spoke to stop her, "Should I try?"

"Try what?"

"Should I try to forgive her or talk to her?" Jack asked when Amber turned to him for a third time.

The dirty blond haired girl smiled widely to him, "Well you shouldn't exactly just leave it at that. Maybe it was an understanding? Or even a lie?"

Jack bit his lip and looked down.

"Maybe an accident?"

The tribe brainy nodded in response, "Awlright. Maybe your right."

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"Ellie, you saw what happened to Jack. Don't do this."

Blond hair whipped about as the girl in front of Alice tied her boots, "I can do it. Jack's out there and I can't stay in here without him, I'll go crazy."

Alice glared down at her, "Jack got caught going out the same way you want to. What's the point in trying again? I'm sure they've already tightened up the security down there."

Her younger sister coughed lightly and ignored her, "Yeah well… I'm not Jack."

Alice frowned and rolled her eyes, "You don't even know where to look for him. How do you know you're going to find him?"

"I will."

Ellie stood up and grabbed a silver jacket off her dresser, "Look," She said turning to look at Alice finally, "Jack is out there; probably not in the city. And I'm gonna find him and you're not gonna stop me."

"Fine. I won't," Her sister said hesitantly, "But don't get caught. And if you do find him… Save us."

Ellie stopped and walked up to her, pulled her into a light hug, "I will find him."

Alice hugged back before letting go, "For your sake I hope you do."

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It had been almost five days since Jack and the others had found out that Amber was still alive. But the Mallrats couldn't help but feel guilty that all of the others were still trapped back in the mall with that lunatic, The Guardian.

The tension around them was as thick as gravy, especially between Amber and Bray. Both had been talking but only a little, and most was just yelling.

Over the time Ebony had expressed her utmost discomfort with being around Amber and/or knowing Amber was there.

Lex and Dal both seemed to be content with their current situation; both didn't care where they were as long as it wasn't with the Chosen.

Bray, however, was constantly in a sour mood. With the argument between him and Eagle constantly raging in his mind; the Mallrat leader seemed to, at all times, have a stick shoved up his ass.

Jack was the only one that really agreed with Ebony; he just wanted his friends back. He wanted Ellie back. He wanted to talk to her, he wanted to be back at the mall, worrying about the amulet and arguing with Danny about setting up bugs back in Ebony's hotel. He didn't want to be here, doing nothing, listening to an angry leader while his friends starved and suffered in the mall with a crazy group of people that worshiped a dead man that served no purpose in his life as Zoot.

"I would ask Eagle but there's no telling if she'll agree to it or not."

Jack shook his head slowly as he stared at the ground, "But we have to do something. Ellie and the others are stuck in there. If we don't get them out there's no telling what will happen. He could kill them if he wanted."

Ebony smiled widely, "I agree to that, we should storm the place. Get out of this forest. We belong in the city. With out friends."

"Why are you so eager to get away from here Ebony?" Bray asked with a slightly raised brow.

"I thought you wanted out of here too Bray. Don't you want to save our friends? Or are you too busy worrying about 'Eagle'?"

Bray glared at the tanned woman before him, "I do want our friends back just as much as-"

"Forget it," Jack interrupted the argument, "I'm going on a walk."

Lex, Ebony, and Bray all looked up as the red head stood from his spot in front of the large fire and trotted off from the camp.

Ebony turned back to Bray, "I don't want to get away. I just think he had a good plan."

* * *

Ellie leaned against the back of a building, staring out at the vast forest before her, the sound of birds chirping filled her ears but they didn't lighten her mood any. This search was getting hopeless. Maybe Alice was right, maybe she couldn't find Jack.

Her knees and feet were both sore from searching around in the forests all day, and she was hungry; and tired.

And lost.

Gaining the overwhelming feeling of defeat she got up and was about to go into the forest before she changed her mind, maybe it would be better if she should just found a place to stay for the night.

It was getting late, and the sun would be setting soon.

Just as she decided to call it a night, a thick arm wrapped around her waist and a hand covered her mouth.

She felt heated breath against her cheek as fear mounted in her mind. About to kick and fight for freedom, she stopped and waited for a response from her captor.

Finally, after both their breathing had slowed down, the mysterious person behind her spoke.

"_Don't yell. Don't even fight me_."

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**Ending Notes:**

Ha ha! Big cliffy there! Chapter 4 will come out soon hopefully. Review? I hope you liked it, wait fer more!

KaKaVegeGurl


	5. Chapter 4: What We Were

**Reckoning**

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**By: KaKaVegeGurl**

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**Author's Note:**

It's been a long time, so I figured I'd give this fic a push in the yaoi direction!

So it's been like a century since I updated this fic with a new chapter! I hope that you all enjoy this one and that it isn't terribly painful, lawl, I apologize fer disappearing off the planet. I've been werking on an actual book and it's draining all of my time.

But on with this anyways, I hope that you all enjoy! Sit down, and have yerself a cup of yaoi!

~KaKaVegeGurl

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**  
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**Side Notes:**

None.

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**Chapter 4 - What We Were**

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**  
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"Jack, just slow down now."

Jack looked back behind him and stopped walking his quick pace to allow Dal time to catch up to him.

Dal looked as ruffled as Jack felt, to be honest, and when he reached the geeky red-head he stopped to catch his breath.

"Jack, I..." He took in another throat full of air, "Jack, I'm sorry."

Jack stared at him with a soft smile across his face as he watched his friend grab at the stitch in his side. It was easy enough to be glad around Dal, it really was, his best friend in the world, positively one of the only people he could never give up, even if it meant his life, "Are y-you alright there, Dal? W-want some water?"

He could practically hear Dal rolling his eyes and his friend looked up to stare him straight in the face.

"Jack, I'm really sorry about Ellie." Dal started and this was already going to a place Jack didn't want to go.

Why couldn't things be simple around Dal anymore? Did Ellie have to ruin that too? Why couldn't they just talk about cracking codes, or the Virus even?

But Dal had much more to say.

"Jack," Dal took his final breath and stood up straight finally, "I don't want you to take this in any way wrong at all, I'm just trying to be your friend."

Jack waited, crossing his arms over his chest, "Go on?"

"I know what happened with Ellie, I saw it happen," Dal was looking at his feet now, "I'm not after her or anything, I promise. It has nothing to do with that at all but I... As your friend... Could you just let my suggestion count for a little more then other's?"

Jack wasn't entirely sure where this was going, but when Dal stared at him again after he'd said nothing, he couldn't help but agree unconditionally and unhesitatingly, "Of course. You're my best friend. Your opinion means the most to me Dal, you know that."

Dal was smiling for a moment before he looked back at his shoes again and Jack wasn't sure if it was out of fear, nervousness, or embarrassment.

"Jack, don't forgive her."

Jack's smile was completely gone now, as he stared at his friend, who was now almost an entire head shorter then him. He knew things had been getting bad there for a while with Ellie but exactly where had this come on from?

"Dal, i-in case y-you hadn't noticed Ellie-" But Dal interrupted him before he could finish what probably would've been a very lame excuse for her actions.

"I don't want to hear why Ellie should have a, what, fourth chance?" Dal was glaring now, Jack could tell, even though all he could really see was the creasing of his brows since he was still looking down.

"Jack, it's so stupid..." His friend was saying now, as if he'd been thinking this over in his head for a while, "She doesn't even deserve you, she never did. Y-You deserve much better. All she's been doing is using you, like you were just convenient. She almost left you for me and I honestly just wanted to be her friend, she almost left you for Wolf. And now she has left you for Luke. Jack she's not going to stay with you. She's a stray bullet."

The things he said stung in Jack's chest as if the bullet he claimed Ellie as was piercing deep into his heart, he had to turn away when he felt the tears welling in his eyes.

Dal moved behind him and walked around his side to face him again, Jack tried to look away but Dal grabbed his shoulder, forcing him not to.

"I know how you are, Jack," He was saying sadly now, "You're my best friend and we've been through a lot together, you don't need her."

Jack stared into his friend's eyes and smiled, even though the tears streaming down his cheeks claimed he should be frowning, "I-I know you're right but i-it just sort of... Sucks, you know? A-after all of that-" This time it wasn't Dal that had cut him off but his own sobs.

As a reflex he tried to walk away, but Dal stalled him there once more.

"Don't even think I'm gonna let you get away like this." Dal pulled Jack into a deep hug as his friend fell to pieces, "I'm sorry for everything, Jack, but she's not good for you. You were fine on your own.. You were fine with just me."

It was probably at least thirty minutes before Jack resurfaced from his break down and he dared to look at Dal now, his eyes pink and his cheeks were red, "Fine with just you."

Dal grinned at him, but it honestly hurt deep down to see his best friend in so much pain, "You still are right? You don't mind just me?"

Jack bit back a laugh and laid his head on Dal's shoulder, "N-no, I don't m-mind. Just you is better then anything ev-ver. And I don't w-want to ask for more."

"You're not going to go crawling back to her, are you? Promise?"

"Promise," Jack whispered against Dal's jacket, "I really n-need to get my hands on a new sh-shirt."

The darker skinned boy laughed at the comment and stood, pulling Jack up with him, "We should probably get back now, the whole thing between Bray and Amber was getting good there. We're probably missing out on a lot of drama."

"And we don't have e-enough here?" Jack laughed as Dal helped him from the ground, when he stood it was close enough to Dal and he couldn't help but stare at the person that probably meant more to him right now then anything ever had, more then Ellie had. A friend was something earned and made through time, not something you could pick up in an instant. Dal was a miracle.

There was nothing that could ever get between a friendship with this kind of strength.

They had been staring at one another for a long time now, and it was getting dark, but for something odd pulling in his chest, Dal couldn't blink and look away or say a single word, his mind was going around in loops.

He'd not known for a long time this kind of attraction to another human being. And it had been with Trudy such an innocent childish thing, a puppy love. But if he was being honest with himself now, the feeling he had for Jack was so much more then that.

The truest of feelings inside of a deep, collected friendship. A strong, unmoving love.

Jack was everything Dal had ever wanted in a partner of any form, and even though they'd most likely remain the closest of friends forever, Dal had to be willing to accept that. It was likely that Jack would move on after Ellie and find another girl he fancied that could take better care of him, and they would love, and be together for a long time. This would wound Dal, and their friendship would hopefully be unwavered by the change, but in the chance that it could, this was something that Dal feared more then anything.

More then the pain he would feel at watching Jack stare at a woman, more then the fear that he would kiss a woman, and love a woman, and make love to a woman. It was so much deeper and wounding then that. Because to disagree with Jack, or to argue and grow to hate Jack would cut a hole so deep in his heart that his heart would have become a black hole and devoured the love and hearts of others around him from the pain he'd feel.

Dal had thought of this for a long time, his love for Jack was completely unwavering and impenetrable. It would, could, never change.

He stared at Jack, his love on his shoulders, and he knew that his closest friend was blind to it completely. Jack would never love him that way.

And even if he could, Dal was never going to tell him. Because there was still that chance that it could cause a deep hate to stir between the two of them. Jack could become disgusted, and Dal would never want something like that.

As these thoughts were plaguing Dal's mind; as he watched and stared at his best friend, the closest thing to him, his love, Jack; Jack was having thoughts of his own.

* * *

Jack could never be honest with himself, his true feelings for Dal. Ignoring them had always seemed the best action to take. Jack didn't like Dal, he couldn't. Dal was his best friend, Dal was the only thing he had now, Dal was his everything. The center of his earth, the thing that kept him on the ground, sane. The glue that prevented him from falling to pieces.

Ellie, yes he'd loved her of course. And the hole she'd made was bleeding, but being around Dal was making things easier. As if Dal was the stitches to his wound, stitches that felt good, and looked good, and comforted him. Stitches that gave him advice to make sure he didn't re-open the wound.

As funny as the thought came to him, he felt that Dal had always been the cure to all of Jack's colds. The being that caused him to breathe, and blink, and to make his heart beat.

As much as Jack could pretend to ignore it, to not dwell on it, Dal was still there. And every time he was around Jack's heart beat just a bit faster then usual, his air was just a bit more controlled, and his cheeks were just a shade darker.

If Jack lost Dal to anything now it would be the death of him. How could he breathe without Dal alive? How could he ever blink again? How would he function? The light inside his soul had almost completely blown out when he'd seen Dal with Ellie the night after they'd been at the farm. And he'd blown it off and pretended to be jealous for Ellie, not for Dal.

This was a problem, just there. And Jack could see it now, now that he was thinking about it. He repeated the thought to himself, '_completely blown out when he'd seen Dal with Ellie the night after they'd been at the farm_', just terrific.

Jack was a selfish person, he could admit this to himself easily. And he'd watched his own reactions in the past, had there ever been a chance Dal was interested in someone else besides himself he became extremely bitter. This was an action he was terrified of.

What if Dal got a girlfriend? What if Dal found someone to be with? How the hell could he deal with that?

And Jack knew immediately, yes, that was the only way, he knew it... He'd have to kill her. He'd have to destroy her before she got her ugly, glossy lips anywhere close to Dal's smooth, soft ones.

As this thought came to him, his eyes traveled down, and he stared at Dal's lips.

'What are you doing you idiot!?' He thought to himself, 'What the hell are you thinking?! Don't do that! Those are untouchy grounds! Don't even!'

Too late.

His brain was frying, he was moving in, he knew it was too late, nothing was going to stop him. And suddenly he realized that Dal had been backed to a tree. They weren't just standing there, Jack had been getting closer.

'Don't do it! Don't do it! You'll hate yourself for it! He'll hate you for it!'

His mind, which was fried and floating somewhere in Denver by now, kicked at the weak powers of his common sense.

Dal's lips were getting closer. He could feel the breath coming out in slow jagged gaps from between those lips. Those lips. Those lips.

'Ugh! We're going to hell for this...' His mind screamed at him in defeat.

And that was it, he had no choice but to act now, it was too late, the cat was out of the bag so long ago it was probably in the city now fighting rats.

Jack was reaching his hands up to either sides of Dal's face, he was touching his jaw, just lightly and he leaned in to claim his prize.

He closed his eyes as there lips met, this was bliss.

He felt his mind, still in Denver, do a few cartwheels before falling very deep in molten lava. Yup, he'd fried his brain.

His hands weren't caressing now, they were pulling, pulling Dal to him, deepening the kiss, and one of Dal's hand was just against the back of his head, the other against his chest, he was pulling and pushing at the same time. But Jack didn't care either way, he deepened the kiss, he pressed their bodies together, his face flushed more.

It felt good to ignore his common sense, which was screaming long sentences of profanity at him now.

But still, he didn't care. His mouth was against Dal's, he was against Dal, he was in heaven.

The kiss grew sweeter, deeper, his heart was in his throat.

* * *

Dal was completely taken by surprise when Jack's hands had reached up to his cheeks, and his lips were against his own, and he welcomed it without a thought.

He didn't kiss first, Jack couldn't blame this on him at all.

The kiss got deeper and Dal felt his knees grow weak when Jack's tongue brushed against his. His stomach collapsed down into his intestines and he was warring back, the kiss got even deeper and he couldn't keep fight the pushing and pulling he'd been doing since the kiss started, he moved his hand from the back of Jack's neck into his hair and crushed their faces together even more, the hand that was on Jack's chest reached up as well; to wrap around his neck and pull him close.

This all was moving so fast, no! He wanted to wait! He'd wanted to wait for a long time! He didn't want to rush into this!

But Jack's lips felt so good.

This was all so fucking good.

* * *

"Stupid, selfish!"

"Don't!"

* * *

The shouting completely interrupted Jack and Dal, they turned in shock.

Dal's face was flushed red and he and Jack both ran immediately to the camp, when they arrived Ebony had thrown what seemed to be a bunch of small pieces of paper in Bray's face and stormed off.

They didn't even look at each other again as they watched Bray and Amber talk.

Jack had this undying feeling inside of him to apologize to Dal and ask him to forget the entire thing, it should've never happened.

Dal was incredibly upset with himself, he should've never even followed Jack on his walk, he should've left him alone. Now what had he done? He destroyed everything they had and for what? One single completely heated kiss?

It was over.

He felt his heart breaking his ribs as it ripped it's way through and made a run for freedom from his stupid, stupid mind.

* * *

**Ending Notes:**

I hope ya'll like my new style in writing!

Yeah I completely noticed it myself as I re-read this, I'm so proud! Werking on my book is surely paying off! I hope you all liked it! Keep reading and I'll try to get out more, no promises anymore though! But reviews really do help! Thank you all, take care fer now!!

~KaKaVegeGurl


	6. Chapter 5: The Plan

**Reckoning**

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**By: KaKaVegeGurl**

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**Author's Note:**

The pairing of Dal and Jack has really got me excited, so I had to run along and do this chapter like the naughty gurl I am. XP

I hope you all liked the last chapter, this one is going to become a bit dirty, nasty! I'd like to see if any of you had guessed the person that had captured Ellie. Did anyone maybe guess a member of the Eco Tribe? Cause gee, don't I feel stupid and obvious. ROFLMAO!

Okay no, the original plan was that the person that caught Ellie was Jack, that's why there were no 's's said, but I figured NAH! I'm not a big fan of writing canon, though I love Ellie and how happy she FINALLY made Jack in Season 5, I just don't really write canon. And I been watching Season 1 over again and the pairing of Dal and Jack was just SO fucking OBVIOUS!

So I made it Pride that caught Ellie. Lawl.

How is Dal going to fair against Ellie in the fight for Jack's heart now that's she's back and in physical contact with him?

I hope that you all enjoy this chapter and have a nice, STEAMING cup of yaoi!

~KaKaVegeGurl

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**Side Notes:**

None.

* * *

**Chapter 5 - The Plan**

* * *

The night after the fight between Bray and Amber, and the kiss between Dal and Jack, Ebony had left them; and taken Lex with her on their own miniature mission to get to the Mall and save their friends.

Both Jack and Dal had taken it upon themselves to stay with Bray and make sure that things worked out here. Though honestly Jack wanted to go with Ebony, because he truly felt that they were finally doing the right thing, he didn't have the heart to leave Dal.

* * *

Jack, Dal, and Bray sat in silence around the fire. It was dark now, and it was getting cold, Jack was still really missing his shirt. They all looked up as Amber finally made her way to them.

"I understand that Lex and Ebony have gone." She spoke in a casual way, "My Tribe voted, they don't wanna join your fight."

Jack and Dal both looked at Bray.

"We will be leaving to, in the morning."

"I think that's for the best."

Bray kept looking away from her as he spoke, "I'm sorry I blamed you for what happened, I had no right."

"You've gotta let the past go, it's the only way," Amber said, sitting by Dal now.

"And I'm glad you've found someone."

Amber tilted her head to the side and Jack and Dal looked at one another before they both stood up and bailed, "What?"

* * *

Dal and Jack trudged a bit into the forest to give Amber and Bray some personal space.

"Conversations between those two seems to come back to Pride one way or another." Jack whispered and he leaned against a tree, his arms over his chest.

Dal nodded, he had been thinking about this most of the day, he had to say something, he moved forward, "Jack, I... Can we talk about what happened earlier?"

Jack felt his heart bury itself into his stomach and he felt nauseous, he honestly didn't want to have this talk, he was afraid of exactly this.

"Do you like me like that?"

Jack closed his eyes in instant regret, damit! Why couldn't Dal just pretend like it'd never happened?

Dal bit his lip, he was afraid of this, Jack was disgusted in him, he had to do as little damage as he could, "Jack, I'm sorry, you didn't like it, it was wrong. I feel so stupid."

"What are you talking about Dal?" Jack watched his friend in confusion, he sighed and looked at his feet, "Yes."

"What?"

Jack bit his lip and stood from the tree, now or never. It was already too late to take back what had happened, there was nothing more he could do except let his feelings be known.

"Jack!"

Dal and Jack turned in shock as Ellie emerged from the trees nearby with Pride just a step before her, she ran to the bright-red haired boy and leaped into his arms.

"Jack, it's so good to see you," She pulled away and pressed her lips to his in an immediate, deep kiss.

When she pulled away she turned to hug Dal but he shook his head and stormed off in the direction of the camp.

Ellie turned to Jack with wide eyes, "Is he alright?"

Jack was glaring too, "Ellie," He shook his head and followed after Dal, but he knew the damage was done.

* * *

They packed up the next morning and headed out for the City.

Dal had avoided Jack and Ellie the entirety of the morning and Ellie had been insistent on hugging and kissing Jack whenever the moment presented itself.

Jack's emotions were quickly becoming scattered, he had strong feelings for Dal, he'd promised not to get back together with Ellie. But if he was alone without her then what was the point? He'd just lost his best friend because of a stupid mistake, he was an idiot.

Sure, the kiss was great, really mind-blowing, but only as it was happening. It was like falling from a high cliff, the moment where you were flying was just a moment; a short moment. But you knew soon you'd hit the ground, you knew it was gonna hurt and that it'd be a permanent thing. And Jack had hit the ground hard, he was in pieces now. Pieces that Dal was refusing to put back together because he hated him.

* * *

"So what's the plan?" Dal asked, he was walking beside Bray, Ellie followed close after and Jack was trying his hardest to walk slow enough to avoid being within a whisper's reach of Ellie.

Bray spoke, barely out of breath, "We're gonna hideout outside of the city and try to make contact with the others."

Jack chuckled to himself, this was never going to work. They all stopped when a whistling sound reached their ears.

They looked up as Pride emerged from the forest area before them, "Bray. You've a lot to learn about making yourself invisible, my friend."

They were shocked as he walked up to them.

Jack smiled wide, "Why are you here? Not that I'm complaining."

"We've decided to help you after all."

"Fantastic." Dal was smiling a bit now too.

"I don't know how to thank you," Bray said wistfully, staring at Pride, and Jack nodded behind him in agreement.

Pride smiled back, "There's no need."

"Eagle," Bray was saying now, nervous obviously, "she didn't come right?"

They all watched as more Eco Tribe members appeared behind Pride, Amber along with them.

"Thank you, this is wonderful."

"No this is business," Amber said as she made her way to them, "We're here to fight a common enemy, no more no less."

* * *

They had traveled to the edge of the city and found a large abandoned building to set up home. Pride and the other Eco Tribe members spent their time scouting the area and observing the actions of the Chosen.

Jack suggested that the best bet they had was through the sewers and Pride left to check it out on his own.

* * *

Everyone was sitting in silence when Jack decided now was the time to tell Ellie about why he and Dal had been so angry last night, he called her off and they walked into what was his sleeping quarters.

Dal had watched them leave the room with the swelling of pain in his heart.

"Do you finally plan to tell me what's up with you and Dal?" Ellie asked him as he shut the door, she took a seat on his bed, her arms over her chest.

Jack shook his head silently, he took the seat beside her and took in a deep breath, "Ellie, whatever happens with me and Dal from now on is none of your concern. What you should be wondering is why am I not as stupid as you thought."

Ellie's eyes narrowed in confusion, "What are you talking about?"

"Dal and May both told me about you and Luke," Jack was glaring at the floor, his hands closed in fists in his lap, but he felt it getting easier to let Ellie go as he reminded her of the mistake she had made, it made it more plain for him to see.

Ellie's eyes were wide now, and Jack looked up to see guilt and regret in her eyes.

He refused to let her talk, he had to do this, "You'd only ever be a good friend for me. I'm sorry but I don't want to be with you anymore, Ellie. You can have your Luke."

Ellie stood from the bed, frowning down at him, she didn't even say anything. She just left the room.

Jack felt horrible inside, he threw himself back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, about less then a full minute passed by before there was a gentle knock on the door, "Who is it?!"

"It's me."

Jack sat up as he heard Dal's voice behind the door, "C-come on in, you never need to knock."

Dal opened the door and stepped in, closing it behind him, he looked a bit nervous as he made his way to Jack's side.

"You let her go?"

Jack nodded at him and looked away, "Yeah, Dal look..." He took a breath. Great, two things on his 'things I don't do when I'm an emotional wreck' list, break up with Ellie, and confront his best friend about his true feelings. This was turning out to be such a great day.

"I'm sorry about the way I feel for you, I wish it was different for me. I'm sorry I ever hurt you," He started slowly, not sure how he was going to say this, "You obviously have different feelings for me. And I don't mean to make you feel like you have to change just to be around me. I wish I could be a better friend for you."

Dal stood up, glaring down at Jack, so this was how it was gonna be? Jack thought that he was making Dal act straight around him? Where the hell was this coming from? "So what then? You don't want to be my friend just because we kissed? Jack I don't feel compelled to change for you at all. Things can go back to being normal, I'm not picky."

Jack stood up as well, staring Dal in the eyes and he couldn't help the wave of tears welling to the surface, it burned harder actually hearing to words come from Dal, "Things can't be normal with us. I screwed that up."

"No you didn't," Dal growled, "Jack listen to yourself. Why are you blaming it all on you? You don't have to take it all, it was an equal mistake on my side."

Jack shook his head and looked away, he swallowed as his heart tightened with things he didn't want to think of, this was bad, this was getting so bad.

"None of it is your fault," Jack said now, tears were brimming more, he felt like he was dying. He had to get rid of this terrible feeling that was clutching at his heart, it was making it so hard to breathe, "Dal, I'm sorry but I can't handle this. I just can't."

Dal's temper rose with fury, "Oh you can't?! Fine then I'll leave. You never have to see me again. I'll just get out of your way."

Jack grabbed his arm before he could leave, he had do something, it couldn't end like this. It hurt so bad. His only reaction was to grab hold of Dal and then he pulled him into the water with him. He closed his mouth over Dal's in a deep kiss, his lips were nervous as they moved over the other boy's. This was the last time he'd have a chance to show him just how much he really did care, even if it disgusted Dal.

But he didn't fight back, they melted together, Jack grabbed Dal's face in his hands and deepened the kiss even more, running his tongue over his lips, his only conclusion was that Dal would let him have this once, just what he wanted, nothing more.

Dal grabbed at the new shirt Jack was wearing, black with short sleeves and pulled him closer, he pressed their bodies together and he was reminded of the kiss in the forest, it seemed like a re-enactment of before. Though this time instead of a tree there was a wall that Jack had backed him up against.

Dal was overly confused. Jack had been claiming that he couldn't be around Dal because of what had happened, he was disgusted in Dal's feelings from him, so why was this the second time Jack had kissed _him_, and not the other way around?

Jack squeezed his eyes shut tightly as the tears flowed down his cheeks, he needed something so much more then this, he needed more. He ran his hands over Dal's jacket, unzipping it and sliding his hands over the shirt, his heart was thudding in his ears as Dal rested his hands on Jack's shoulders.

He couldn't do this, he was taking advantage of a person that just could not be enjoying this, he had to stop. Jack resurfaced from the water he'd plunged into and pulled his self away from Dal, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry I can't."

Dal stared at Jack, his own tears rising, he zipped up his jacket as Jack looked away from him and then he fled, fled from the room as fast as possible.

Jack felt the heart finally wrench itself like a plug at the bottom of a bath tub and moved aside as his feelings flushed out into the sewer. He was dying.

He managed to slam his fist against the wall before he collapsed, he clutched at his chest with his left hand and pressed his forehead into the carpet.

This was what it felt like to die of a broken heart.

* * *

**Ending Notes:**

I hope that none of you die from such an awesome cliffhanger!

I'll try to get to werk on the next chapter soon!! Thank you all fer reading! Love ya, reviews?!

~KaKaVegeGurl


	7. Chapter 6: Secrets

**Reckoning**

* * *

**  
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**By: KaKaVegeGurl**

* * *

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**Author's Note:**

Alright so fer the most part this will be a back track into the mind of Jack.

I'm not going to do too many back tracks in here just a couple to get things sorted out, but for the most part this will be Jack coming to terms with his EXTREMELY strong, and extremely ignored feelings for Dal. This takes place in the series just before they break into the mall to attack the Guardian.

I hope that all of you enjoy this chapter! Have a nice steaming cup of yaoi and enjoy!

~KaKaVegeGurl

* * *

**  
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**Side Notes:**

None.

* * *

**  
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**Chapter 6 - Secrets**

* * *

As Jack sat there on the floor, his bleeding knuckles stinging with pain, he grabbed his hair and pulled, he didn't want to remember what had just happened.

His heart was breaking, but all he could think of was the look in Dal's eyes as they'd argued back and forth. He'd never been in so much inner turmoil before, not like this. Before he'd always had the strength to fight it off, to ignore it and act normal.

But this was beyond hiding, he couldn't stop the pain that was fighting through the binds in his brain and they leaked out into the open, he was glad at least that noone could see what was happening now.

The memories swam over his vision as he plunged into a backwards spiral.

He remembered back to meeting Dal for the first time, and explaining about searching for adults over the radio, and how Dal had thought it had been a waste of time, he also remembered when Dal had left and when he'd came back and asked if Jack had missed him. He had no idea how badly Dal leaving had effected him.

He remembered when he'd broken his leg and Dal had fallen asleep on it. Just this memory alone brought on many more, like when Dal had helped him from the floor, it'd taken everything inside of him to concentrate on complaining instead of fainting. He could swear he'd never yelled Dal's name more times then he had then.

He'd thought of all the stupid times he fought with Dal, trying to grasp at his only chance to try and convince himself that he didn't like him, that he only liked girls, that he liked Ellie.

That one act had brought on so many fights, and almost destroyed their friendship. A girl wasn't worth that, especially a girl that was just suppose to help straighten him up.

Jack couldn't bare it anymore, he was drowning, he sobbed into the carpet as he pulled at the red of his hair, he heard a knock at his door and shouted in a strained voice, "Who is it and what do you want?" He tried to keep his voice steady.

"It's me, Jack. Are you alright, I heard something."

Jack stood up and walked to the door, he opened it, hiding his face on the inside of the door and Amber walked in. He didn't look her way, he just kept his face pressed to the door as he closed it.

Amber looked at the hole in the wall and the blood in the carpet where Jack had been sitting, "Jack, are you okay?" Truth was that it wasn't only the sound of the wall breaking that had caught her attention, but she had seen Dal leave the room and walk off in a hurry, looking distraught.

She figured she'd give time to Dal to think of things and talk to Jack now. She looked at the bright red hair that was more messy then it'd ever been and she knew immediately that something bad had happened, "Do you wanna talk about it?"

Jack shook his head, still pressed to the door and he clutched at it with his hands, he needed someone to talk to. He'd talked to Amber before of Ellie, but it was so much easier then; to just lie about everything. But this would be the truth. He couldn't do that.

Amber walked to him and put a hand on his shoulder, "Is this about Dal?"

"Amber," Jack sobbed against the door at the mention of his name, his heart bled, he turned to her finally, he couldn't stop the shaking, he felt like his arms and legs were trying to rip themselves free from his body, to stop the pain his heart was causing them.

The Eco Tribe Leader's eyes widened at him, he was a complete mess. His red checkered pants were spotted with a bit of blood, his black shirt looked as if he'd pulled at the bottom of it too many times and tried to wrap his hands in it. His eyes were red and glassy, his forehead was red from being pressed against the door, and possibly something else but she couldn't tell. There were tear streaks all down his face and his lip was bleeding.

She reached out and grabbed his left hand, "This was from that wall. What happened to your lip?"

Jack blinked new tears from his eyes and looked away, "I bit it, I-I guess."

"Dal didn't hit you did he?" Amber asked, sure it was very unlike Dal to hit anybody, but it was also unlike Jack to hurt himself in any way.

Jack shook his head and walked to the bed, he collapsed before he even got to it and buried his head against the side of the bed frame.

Amber watched with wide eyes, could she possibly be seeing this happen? What was causing him so much pain? She walked to him and sat on the bed, "Jack, please, if something is hurting you this bad then you should talk about it. You look like something's eating you from the inside."

She watched as Jack nodded his head and he pulled away from the bed to look down at the floor.

"You h-have to promise to n-never tell anyone about wh-what I'm going to tell you alright?" Jack asked in a weak voice, he sobbed again, "I can hardly e-even tell it to myself."

Amber nodded, blinking unsurely, "Jack, I'm here for you, you can tell me anything. Nothing gets past these walls."

Jack took a deep breath, grateful for her support, he lifted his self from the floor and sat beside her, "I've been hiding s-something fr-from the tribe, from you and Bray, an-and Dal mostly. And I've been hiding it from myself too."

Amber nodded again and listened, refusing to interrupt.

"I've known about it for a while, to be honest, I've just ignored it," Jack turned to Amber and looked her in the eyes, she could see a pain deep in them and she wanted to look away, "I hated myself for it for so long. I still do. I can't stand th-thinking about it. And now Dal's sort of s-seen it, and I... He hates me because of it, and I'm hurting him."

"Jack, I," Amber shook her head, staring back at him, "You're not making any sense. What is it?"

Jack couldn't bare to look at her anymore, he stood from the bed and walked back to the door, his hand rested on the door knob and Amber was about to say something when he made his way to the wall on the outside of the building and pressed his self against it.

"Jack-" Amber stood and she heard him muffle something against the white wallpaper, "What?"

She heard Jack take another breath.

"I'm in love with Dal."

Her eyes widened and she looked at him in shock, this couldn't be right, Jack was in love with Ellie, he had told her so, "Jack but... You can't... What about Ellie?"

"There never was an Ellie," Jack mumbled against the wall, "I l-lied to you at the Eco Tribe. I never loved Ellie. I w-wanted to love her. She was my only chance at being normal, at a n-normal life. And Dal he... He just thought I was jealous of h-her, not of him."

Amber's heart sunk at her friend's hurt, she walked to him and rested a hand on his shoulder, "Jack, don't beat yourself up-"

"Let me say it," Jack said a little louder then he'd been speaking before and it caught her by surprise, she backed away, "I n-need to tell you this, I c-c-can't hide it anymore. I n-need to say it. Pl-please."

"Alright," Amber breathed nervously, "You have my ears."

Jack still didn't look from the wall but she watched as his hand raised up against it until it was near his cheek.

"I've been i-in love with Dal for a l-long time. Since the whole ketchup thing," Jack chuckled and Amber couldn't help but think it sounded just a tad hysterical, "I was disgusted in myself from d-day one. And I hid it from everyone, even me. When Ellie came around I h-hoped she could cure my... Obsession. But every time I saw them around e-each other a burning hate was in me. I knew it wasn't because I was afraid he would take her from me, but that I would lose him to her. And I had to do anything I could to stop it. I was so stupid."

Amber sat on the bed again, everything was clicking into place as he spoke.

"I would get jealous if he showed up around us and it made me seem normal, just jealous," Jack looked towards Amber and she looked at him, "I couldn't st-stand him s-seeing me with h-her, and I knew I was hurting him b-because I think he was in love with her."

"When the chosen caught me and we escaped with Bray I was terrified that something was going to happen." He was looking away again and Amber had seen, just before as his eyebrows went up and his lip quivered, that he was holding back a bucket's worth of tears.

"I-I was right, I was s-s-so right." She heard the shaking of his voice as he looked to the corner of the wall away from her so she could only see the back of his head and his shaking shoulders, "No Ellie th-there to stop me, to distract me. I knew.. I knew.. S-s-something was gonna h-h-h-happen."

Amber stood now as he moved to the corner and clutched at the wall to hide his vulnerability, "When? I didn't notice anything at all."

Jack sniffed a bit as he sobbed and he stood up a bit higher, "I went o-on a walk and Dal f-f-f-f-followed me. I just... I don't know wh-what h-happened. I tr-tried to talk about Ellie. And I don't know w-w-w-why it happened but I just dr-dropped the walls. All the sudden e-everything I'd hidden for so long came r-r-r-rushing out, I started thinking about th-the things I'd been ignoring f-f-f-for so l-long. And I couldn't h-h-help it, I couldn't d-do a-anything."

Jack's stuttering was so bad, mixed in with his sobbing, that Amber was having a very hard time making out what he was saying, but she could tell the worst part was coming up, whatever had happened that had wrenched their friendship into a tight knot and was destroying Jack by the hour was about to be said.

"I kissed him," Jack mumbled into the wall, grabbing at his hair now, Amber walked to him and grabbed his hands from his hair, Jack didn't bother to fight her but he grabbed her in a tight hug and sobbed against her.

"Jack," Amber sighed and rubbed her hand over his back, "It can't possibly be that bad."

Jack pulled from her and walked to the other wall away from her again, "It's so much worse then that. He hates me now, and I broke up with Ellie for sure. He came to talk to me, and I did it again. I really hurt him. I told myself I wouldn't do it because I can't lose him Amber, and I've lost him. I.. I.. I'm losing myself."

Amber walked to him and grabbed his wrists as he tried to pull at his hair again, "Jack please. You have to forgive yourself before anything. You're eating yourself up about something that isn't your fault. I'm sure Dal doesn't hate you. He could never hate you, you're his best mate. You two have been through a lot together and he cares about you truly."

Jack nodded as he looked at her, "I'm scared."

"I know you are, I understand," Amber ran her hand over his shoulder, "You can talk to him tomorrow after we attack the mall."

Jack grinded his teeth at the thought and nodded to her, "Thank you, Amber. I'm glad someone understands."

Amber smiled weakly and hugged him, she moved to the door, "You really shouldn't let love eat you up with guilt. It can be a good thing that you love so much, you're a good guy Jack. Dal is too. Never forget that."

* * *

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**Ending Notes:**

That's it fer this chapter, hope you all liked it!

I wanted to do this chapter to try and help explain what exactly has been going on through Jack's mind so that you all will understand his side of the story just a bit better, and now Amber knows! Yay fer plot bunnies!! I hope you all enjoyed and can wait fer more!

Reviews please!? ^^

~KaKaVegeGurl


	8. Chapter 7: Caught Up In You

**Reckoning

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**

**By: KaKaVegeGurl**

**

* * *

**

**Author's Note:**

Hey everybody! Been waiting fer this one?

After the fight the first time between Dal and Jack; Jack kissed Dal, and it seemed like it was over there. He was left alone in his room with a wounded heart and nothing else to do but confide in Amber, to tell someone of his pains.

The fight against the Guardian is coming, but not before the storm between Jack and Dal gets all the more worse.

This is Dal's side of the story, after his fight with Jack, he left the room, how did he fend on his own through the night? And what was the morning going to bring? Hope you all enjoy it. Have a nice steaming cup of yaoi!

~KaKaVegeGurl

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**Side Notes:**

None.

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**Chapter 7 - Caught Up In You

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**

Dal had managed to get out into the hallway with the door closed when he heard some loud crash from the room behind him. That could've nearly been his face.

He made his way to his room, locking the door behind him and curled up on his own bed.

He didn't sleep a wink that night, all the thoughts of everything that had happened between him and Jack were so muddled now.

How could he move on from this? He was so confused.

If Jack was as homophobic as it sounded then why had he been the one to kiss Dal on both occasions?

Was Dal's mind just making that up? Was he really the one moving in on Jack and taking advantage of him?

He tossed and turned the night through and waited for day to finally break. His heart was soup now, all he could do was hope that Jack didn't ever try and talk to him again.

That Jack would some how know not to say a thing to him and to ignore him. Or to casually walk up to him as if nothing had ever happened, like they were just friends again and neither of the kisses had ruined that.

That was wishful thinking of course.

* * *

Morning came finally and Dal knew he couldn't avoid getting up, today was a big day.

He put his shoes on and made his way into the meeting room where Pride had just walked into to tell them that Jack and Dal had been right and that the Sewers were the way in.

Jack was sitting close by Amber and he looked a mess, his lip looked as if it had been busted and his left wrist was wrapped up, so that was what the sound had been. Dal avoided looking at him for too long and his eyes traveled to Ellie, who'd just walked up to Pride, flirting as she did. What a piece of work.

Pride mentioned to Dal that there was a gate in the sewers and Dal looked to him.

"Yes, me and Jack rigged it a while back, to protect us," Dal offered and Pride nodded in response.

"Can you two fix that, without any alarms going off?"

Dal nodded and Jack sat up in his seat.

"Yeah we can do that, it'll be too easy," Jack said, he didn't sound too strong with the words he spoke but Dal knew more then anything that he was right, it would be way too easy for the two of them to do.

The discussion went in the direction of blindness, not warning the others trapped in and they all finally concluded with going in tonight.

Jack didn't look at Dal once during the entire discussion and Dal couldn't help but feel like he was a plague.

* * *

There had only been a few squabbles, Amber would stay behind, so would Ellie. Both had disagreed but Bray convinced Amber to stay behind because he didn't want all of the Tribe leaders caught together by the Guardian, and Ellie stopped arguing too, deciding to keep Amber company during the wait.

It was night time now and they walked through the sewers ahead of Bray and Pride. They were sent together as a team to take care of the alarm on the gate.

Jack started at the trip wire and got to work on it as Dal reached around to get the alarm on his other side, but unthinking of the situation, he'd acted out of habit prior to the kiss. Their cheeks touched and Jack went rigid immediately.

Dal acted fast, he clipped the wire and stood, moving to the lock on the gate, he swallowed nervously when he saw Jack finally go back to work out of the corner of his eyes. His heart made a pull into depression.

Had this been before, it wouldn't have mattered and they probably would've just laughed it off. Why was it so much different now?

Dal heard Jack close the box and whispered lightly, "You done?"

Jack answered back after a moment of quietness, in which time he stood straight, "Yeah. It's done. We should tell the others."

"Alright." Dal rushed back as fast as his legs could, leaving Jack behind to follow, he walked out to see Bray and Pride waiting for them, "It's done. We're in."

The rest of them moved past him as Jack walked up and they began the long walk back to the Rebel hideout.

Dal was planning on going in silence but he had to apologize about earlier, he stopped, grabbing Jack's arm.

"Can we talk now?"

Jack looked at him, his face was broken, but he nodded, not trusting his self to say anything.

"I'm sorry for earlier."

Jack shook his head, "No, d-don't be sorry. It was m-me. It's my fault that w-w-we're in this situation at all. But I'm sorry Dal. I don't think w-we can do this."

Dal was glaring as Jack spoke, this was so stupid, they couldn't be friends any more just because of two kisses, "What we can't be friends just because of what happened?"

Jack continued to shake his head, "I'm sorry Dal, it's too hard."

"We've been through a lot worse physically," Dal said almost stomping his foot, "Locos, Demon Dogs, Tribe Circus, the Virus, Ebony, Ellie! Which would you like me to start with!? We can do this. Lex has probably kissed Ebony a million times before now and they both ran off to fight the Guardian on their own! Why can they still work together and we can't!?"

"Because it's different, okay!?" Jack finally shouted, looking Dal in the eyes, "Ebony isn't disgusted every t-time she's around Lex. Ebony can at l-least stand to be in her own s-skin. They aren't us, Dal! They aren't as cl-close as us! And that makes it worse!"

Dal felt the stinging in his chest as a wound re-opened, he looked away as Jack continued shouting.

"I can't stand being around you, I can't stand being near y-you, or knowing that you look at me still," Jack pushed past Dal and fled off down the sewers, away from Dal.

Dal stood in shock, the tears were coming again, he felt them, he made the walk back slowly on his own, when he got there he knocked on Jack's door.

"Go away, Dal!"

"Jack, can we please just talk!?" Dal's voice was shaky and he pressed his head to the door, waiting for the answer.

It was the second time he heard a crunching sound from inside the room and he truly was beginning to feel bad for Jack's hand, "Jack."

"Disappear!"

He could tell from the grinding of teeth in Jack's words that the redhead was in deep, physical pain from slamming his fist into the wall, but Dal gave him his wish.

He took his steps slowly and he fled to Amber's room, he needed to talk to someone about this, he couldn't hide it anymore.

He knocked lightly and he heard Amber call out to come in. He opened to door slowly and stepped inside.

"Dal!" Amber smiled and finished pulling off her left boot, "I was just about to get to bed, but I'm up for anything." She looked him full in the face and froze.

"Dal!?" She stood from the bed, "Oh god has something happened? Is everyone alright?! Was there an attack?"

Dal shook his head and he saw her calm down instantly but she walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"What happened?"

"I need to tell you something," Dal breathed and he moved to sit on Amber's bed, "You're closest to me like this and I need someone to confide in."

Amber smiled and sat down with him, "You couldn't talk to Jack about it?"

Dal shook his head immediately.

"Is it about him?" The Eco Tribe leader guessed and Dal nodded, "Alright, did you two have a fight? Is it about Ellie? Do you like her?"

Dal shook his head, "No, no, you would never guess, so just stop."

Amber sat in Indian style and stared at her friend, "Okay well if I can't guess at it then you kind of have to tell me, otherwise the confiding won't exactly work."

"Alright, but sit back, you're in for a very long and tangled story."

Amber grinned wide, "Does it have some hot action?"

Dal flushed red and looked at his hands, "It's not Ellie I'm in love with. At all. It's... It's Jack."

"What's Jack?" Amber asked confused, "Jack's broken up with-" She cut off and stared in shock at Dal, "Oooooh. Oh wow."

Dal bit his lip and looked up at Amber, "Yeah."

"So what's the problem? Jack and Ellie are over right?" Amber asked confused now, her eyes traveled to the bottom of the door, "Is he not interested? You not his type?"

"No it's not really that," Dal sighed and stood from the bed, "Jack can't stand the thought of being near me now because we kissed in the forest back at the Eco Tribe, and it was deep, and... And I talked to him just now and he hates me, he can't bare to be near me, and then it's so confusing Amber. He... He kissed me on both accounts. Both times but I think he doesn't even like guys but-"

"Dal stop," Amber grinned widely at Dal and stood to hug him, "Jack's not as confusing as you're making him out to be, he doesn't hate you, and if he kissed you it sounds like you've got the story reversed, or you both have. He thinks you hate him."

"How could you possibly know that?" Dal asked, frowning up at her.

"Simple." Amber smiled and opened her door, "Maybe because you're not the only person that comes and talks to me."

Dal gasped in shock when she opened the door and Jack was standing there, his eyes wide as his fist was raised in a knocking motion.

Jack looked more terrible then Dal felt, tears were still on his cheeks, his fist at his side was bloody and his hair was a mess, it looked as though he'd been grabbing fist-fulls of it.

"I think you two need to start talking to each other about things completely and stop trying to make it out like you hate each other." Amber pushed Dal out of her room, "Go kiss and make up."

* * *

**Ending Notes:**

So the attack on the mall did not go as planned!

The fight between Jack and Dal has raged on even more, who else is Dal suppose to turn to but Amber?

I hope you all can wait fer the next chapter, I wish I hadn't left you guys with such a HUGE cliffhanger! Sorry about that! Reviews?!

~KaKaVegeGurl


	9. Chapter 8: Getting Things Right

**Reckoning**

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**By: KaKaVegeGurl**

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**Author's Note:**

Whew, I think this will be the second to the last chapter!

Alright so in the last Chapter, Dal opened up to Amber, the second person to find that confiding in Amber is TOTALLY the correct thing to do. Amber had noticed Jack on the other side of the door, he was coming to confide as well.

What better of a thought then to say something witty and kick them both out and let them finally deal with it correctly on their own.

But I left one question I'm sure you may have asked yourself. How long had Jack been standing there? What had he heard?

Alright guys, let's get this party started! *Brings out a tray of steaming cups of yaoi* Enjoy everyone!

~KaKaVegeGurl

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**Side Notes:**

None.

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**Chapter 8 - Getting Things Right

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**

Jack grabbed his fist in pain and moaned low into the carpet.

_Great knee-jerk reaction, Jack_, he thought to himself, _throw your already wounded fist into an innocent wall that hasn't done anything to you. It's not like it's the __**first time**__._

He heard Dal storm off down the hall and he sat and thought to himself, things were so screwed up now. Jack reached up and grabbed at his chest and he stood up. He couldn't leave things like this, he was dying inside. How could things have taken such a turn for the worse?

He was hurting Dal. He walked to the corner he'd been in before and buried his face against it to think things over, his fist was bleeding like crazy, staining the carpet.

_What a great wound to make you idiot._

He thought for a moment, what had Amber said before?

"_Jack please. You have to forgive yourself before anything. You're eating yourself up about something that isn't your fault. I'm sure Dal doesn't hate you. He could never hate you, you're his best mate. You two have been through a lot together and he cares about you truly."_

"_You really shouldn't let love eat you up with guilt. It can be a good thing that you love so much, you're a good guy Jack. Dal is too. Never forget that."_

She was right, Dal was a good person, Jack stood from the corner and pulled on his shirt. His knuckles throbbed in pain, a few were most likely broken.

He made his way from the room and he walked up a few flights of stairs to Amber's room, he heard voices before he even reached it and he stopped to listen. He had never been a big fan of eavesdropping, but when he'd heard it was Dal's voice that was talking it pulled him with pain and curiosity.

His left hand dropped to his side as he listened.

"_Does it have some hot action?"_ He heard Amber's voice muffled from behind the door.

Jack raised a brow at the question in confusion before Dal responded, "_It's not Ellie I'm in love with. At all. It's... It's Jack."_

Jack's eyes widened in shock as his mouth dropped.

"_What's Jack?"_ He heard Amber ask, confused.

"_Jack's broken up with-"_ She cut off, Jack wondered what was going on before she gasped, "_Oooooh. Oh wow."_

"_Yeah."_

"_So what's the problem? Jack and Ellie are over right?"_ Amber sounded confused again and Jack shifted his foot in eagerness, "_Is he not interested? You not his type?"_

It was Jack's turn to be confused now, Amber knew about how Jack felt, was she acting dumb and clueless on purpose?

"_No it's not really that."_ He heard Dal sigh and the springs from the bed shifted, "_Jack can't stand the thought of being near me now because we kissed in the forest back at the Eco Tribe, and it was deep, and... And I talked to him just now and he hates me, he can't bare to be near me, and then it's so confusing Amber. He... He kissed me on both accounts. Both times but I think he doesn't even like guys but-"_

"_Dal stop,"_ Amber interrupted Dal and Jack raised his hand to knock on the door, "_Jack's not as confusing as you're making him out to be, he doesn't hate you, and if he kissed you it sounds like you've got the story reversed, or you both have. He thinks you hate him."_

"_How could you possibly know that?"_

"_Simple." _Amber said through the door and it opened, "Maybe because you're not the only person that comes and talks to me."

Dal gasped in shock when she opened the door and Jack stood still, his eyes wide as he took in the state of Dal.

He could tell Dal was looking him over sadly, about as shocked as he was.

"I think you two need to start talking to each other about things completely and stop trying to make it out like you hate each other." Amber pushed Dal out of the room and Jack made way in the hallway, "Go kiss and make up."

The door closed on their faces and Jack looked to Dal. Everything he'd just heard turned over in his mind.

He bowed his head and made his way past Dal and down the stairs, "Come on?"

Dal watched after Jack in shock and followed him down to his room. He was terrified of what was going to happen now. Would they be friends?

Jack closed the door behind Dal and he walked back to the corner he normally stood in.

Dal looked to the wall where there were two holes, below the most fresh hole there was a puddle of blood staining the carpet, he looked to Jack's left fist and saw that it was still bleeding profusely, "I'll be right back."

He left and went to his medicine bag in the main room, grabbing from it some bandages, gauze, alcohol, a large bowl, Triple Antibiotic Ointment, and pain killers. Those broken knuckles could not be feeling good right now.

When he came back, closing the door, Jack was still in his corner.

"Come here."

Jack looked at Dal and saw the items in his hand, he walked to the bed and sat down. Dal made his way to him, he set the bowl on the floor, taking a seat on Jack's left, and began to clean the wound.

Jack watched him for a moment, he smiled softly.

"I heard a bit of what you and Amber were talking about," He said honestly.

Dal ducked his head, he poured alcohol over the wound and he heard Jack bite back a hiss, "Sorry," He handed the painkillers to Jack and went to covering the wounds in the ointment, "take two of those."

Jack swallowed them dry, "So you **do **care about me like that."

It could've been a question but Dal didn't think it was, he wrapped the bandage over the gauze around Jack's knuckles and wrapped it around his wrist as well to hold it in place and put the hooks in to hold the end, "Yes... Yes I do." He said finally.

Jack stared as Dal finally let his wrist fall at his side, he looked at him and Dal met his stare.

"You love me?"

Dal swallowed at the question and stood from the bed, he wanted to leave now so badly but he answered Jack's question anyways, "Yes," he managed and his voice quivered.

"You don't have to look away from me," Jack stood up from the bed, trying not to use his left hand, and grabbed Dal's shoulder to make him turn and look at him, "That's fine, as long as you don't hate me."

Dal was about to say something when Jack leaned in, hesitation was a tiny child hiding in the corner of Jack's mind now, Dal could do it all he wanted but Jack was more positive of his feelings now then he ever had been.

Being with Dal was the easiest thing once again. His breathing wasn't punching bruises in his lungs and his heart wasn't drowning anymore. The bath was over. Blinking was normal, living was normal.

Jack tilted his head just slightly and pressed his lips flush to Dal's. Instead of the past two times of his mind screaming, and yelling, at him; it was quiet, content.

This was how their first kiss should have been, sure and positive.

Dal seemed to get a grip, finally wrapping his brain around it, he moved closer and the taller boy grabbed him close. His breathing was a hard thing to control. This was something he'd wanted for so long, more then anything, and he honestly was finding that he didn't have the patience any more.

He reached up, wrapping his hands through Jack's hair and pulling him down into him. He felt Jack wrap his arms around his waist and he was pulled around and set on the bed.

The kiss continued as Jack climbed onto him, resting his left hand near Dal's face and running his other hand between them.

Dal ran his own hands into Jack's shirt, pulling it up and over his head, breaking the kiss for just a second before they were back at it. He ran his hand over Jack's chest and down to his stomach, his other hand was behind Jack's neck, pulling him closer still.

Jack pulled away to sit upright and Dal sat up to remove his jacket and his shirt, they were kissing again, in an instant. Jack pressed Dal back against the pillows, this would've been so much easier if he hadn't been stupid and slammed his fist into a wall twice.

Their bodies were flush now, Jack moved from the kiss to trail his lips down Dal's neck, he kissed under his jaw, at his throat and around his collar bone. He wanted to do so much more, but he refused to just plunge right into everything and make a fool of himself, he wanted to wait just as much as he didn't.

He pulled from Dal and stared down at him, "We're not rushing into things?"

Dal smiled sheepishly up at him, he caught his breath before speaking, "No, of course not. No rushing in. Just a bit of make up time?"

"Any time," Jack smiled widely and kissed Dal again, his lower regions hated him now, that was for sure.

He laid down beside Dal and took a deep breath, he was sure his face was more flushed then ever now, "I have to say we both owe Amber a lot. We were digging a hole for ourselves back there."

Dal chuckled at this and sat up to look down at the redhead, "Two holes on opposite sides of the world. We should thank her tomorrow. Does your hand hurt at all?"

"A lot," Jack breathed looking down at the bandages, "But not nearly as much as they had been before. I don't know how I managed to ignore it."

Dal shook his head, "Me neither. You broke three out of four, your pinky is alright. Which is good because it's so small, you know? Smaller bones." He leaned forward and pressed his lips to Jack's.

"I wonder how the attack went," Jack thought as he kicked off his shoes and climbed under the covers, Dal helped.

"I guess we'll see in the morning, I'll go to my room."

Jack grabbed Dal's hand before he could go, "No, no. Stay in here? Please?"

Dal turned to smile at him, he dropped his shirt and jacket he'd picked up and kicked off his shoes, joining Jack under the covers, "That's a request of your's I can live with."

Jack chuckled and pulled his partner close. Things could get no more perfect.

His best friend was with him, his secrets were out in the open and Dal was still here with him. Dal was always there. And they were together. They would find a way to defeat the Chosen, if that hadn't happened already.

He felt his heart mending after it was broken.

Dal was his glue, like always.

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**Ending Notes:**

*Insert really long, loud squee of doom*

I gotta say I enjoyed writing this chappie so much. The next chapter will most likely be something of an ending, I'll try to sum up everything that happens. I don't think there will be a sequel, so just expect one more chappie please! Any requests of things to happen, feel free to.

Review, please!?

~KaKaVegeGurl


	10. Epilogue: Scenario 1

**Reckoning**

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**By: KaKaVegeGurl**

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**Author's Note:**

I'm not sure if I'd ever do a sequel to this, it ends too final.

Jack and Dal are together finally, and what better then a nice juicy scene? Of course, Jack's hand hasn't mended but Dal can think of ways to 'deal' with that. ^^

And hey look, Ebony and Lex *points*

If you've watched season 3 anytime lately you'd be able to notice that this fanfic runs right along with it, this all would happen at about episode 10 and 11.

Also to tell you all that there might be more then one Epilogue, sort of a multiple ending thing going on, they'll be up soon after this one I think. And I hope you all enjoy them, it's your choice what happens.

Time fer the Epilogue everyone! Strap yourselves in and have a nice steaming cup of yaoi!

~KaKaVegeGurl

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**Side Notes:**

None.

* * *

**Epilogue - The End of Everything - Ending 1**

* * *

They had slept together that night and, with their nights and days a tad mixed, had managed to sleep in a bit. They were cuddled together, no one really showing a dominant position, their bare skin against each other was comforting for the both of them.

Jack had just woken, pulling his head up from where it rested just beside Dal's cheek. He had just a moment to stare at the sleeping boy, who's arms were wrapped around him, when the door suddenly burst open without any warning.

It was Bray, who stared at them both with wide eyes.

Jack and Dal had sprung up in shock to look at their leader.

Bray turned away, "Oh, god, I'm sorry, uhh..." He closed the door and shouted through it, "Take your time, no rush!"

Jack turned to Dal and grinned, Bray was alive clearly so that must've meant that things had went alright the night before, he chuckled at his leader's words.

Dal smiled at Jack and leaned in, pressing a kiss to just the corner of Jack's lips.

"We don't have to go, do we?" Jack asked with a mischievous expression, "Not just yet?"

* * *

Amber sat down at the table and rested a hand on Bray's arm, "I knew."

"That's very comforting," Bray sighed and put his head in his arms, "You should've warned me before I barged in on them. I feel so embarrassed now."

"You could've told me you were going to wake them up." Amber chuckled lightly and watched as Ebony strode past them to the window, "Were they naked at least?"

Bray shook his head and his face was crimson again, he attempted to bury it in his arms, "No, no they were wearing their boxers, I think."

Amber frowned and made a sort of pouted face, "Darn, I was hoping they'd gotten it on last night."

"What?" Bray looked at her with wide eyes, "Amber, they're... Jack and Dal."

"So?"

"So they're..." Bray put his head in his hands again, "We've known them forever. They're kids. They're young. Their like my kid brothers."

"That doesn't mean anything in this world, Bray," Amber was frowning now, standing up from the table, "They love each other. I've seen it and I've heard all about it from both of them. They both are very serious with their feelings, and no one is going to ruin it for them."

The door to Jack's room opened and he and Dal came into the large room, Amber and Bray stopped talking to look at them.

Amber grinned, "Morning you two. Good sleep?"

Jack flushed red and looked at Dal.

"Best in years."

"No doubt," Amber smiled at her friend and sat again, "So they failed last night. Ebony and Lex and Selene kind of got in the way."

Bray avoided eye contact with both of them, turning to look at the table.

* * *

The plan now was to catch Trudy and the baby. It was May's idea and the Rebels were up for the challenge. Taking the Supreme Mother from the Chosen would punch a hole in their strength.

Ellie had done nothing to help, causing trouble of her own, she flirted still with Pride, practically drooling after him. It didn't bother Jack at all honestly, he had Dal, and that was all he'd ever needed to begin with.

* * *

"Amber asked me to join them tomorrow," Dal was saying as he took off his shoes, "I think I will. It could be good."

"Dal," Jack sat on his bed and watched as Dal walked up to him, "You could get hurt. The Chosen could catch you, and then what would I do?"

Dal grinned at him, he took a seat by the messy red-haired genius, "I guess you should come along and protect me then, eh?"

Jack blushed as Dal leaned in to kiss him, "I-I guess I c-could," He said, pulling Dal to him, "But I'm only going with you."

"Jack," Dal reached a hand up to brush it over Jack's cheek and kissed him passionately, "You know I love you. I do. Are we going to stay open about this whole thing once this is over with the Chosen?"

Jack stared at Dal, his bandaged knuckles burned as he tightened his fist, "I don't want to hide anything from them. They're our family. I-If they don't like it they can deal."

Dal grinned wide, "Maybe they saw it coming."

"Were we ever that obvious?" Jack's question was answered with a yes and he climbed close to Dal, trying not to disrupt his fist, he sat down as close as he could get and kissed Dal again, fist on his lap.

He felt Dal's fingers brush over it and the darker skinned of the two pulled from the kiss first, "Can I ask you something?"

Jack nodded unconditionally, "Of course, Dal."

"I know your hand hurts," Dal swallowed as the butterflies in his stomach fought upwards, "But, before this fight... Tonight, I... I want us to-" He cut off and looked at Jack, his cheeks were beet red.

Jack blushed now too, just as nervous, "You don't feel rushed to do it, do you?"

"No," Dal shook his head honestly, "And I don't want you to either."

"I'm not."

Dal leaned in and stared at him, "I love you."

"I love you too." Jack gasped just the slightest when Dal pulled him close and kissed him deeply. He could never have rejected Dal, not even if he wasn't ready. They'd been together for such a short time but Jack wanted this, it seemed inevitable that they would be together forever. He was pushing forward, until Dal was on his back.

Jack climbed over him and they both fought to get their shirts off. Jack pulled his own off with difficulty, using only one arm, as Dal did and they were kissing again, he'd reached down to fumble at the belt on his pants, it felt rushed and slow at the same time.

They were against each other soon enough, flesh pressed to flesh.

Jack had honestly never read of anything about sex, but he acted out of need and want, he kissed Dal's neck, needing more.

His knuckles were burning as he used his hand to hold himself up but Dal objected when he saw the expression on the redhead's face.

"Do this." Dal grabbed Jack's left arm and pulled it out to bend and make it rest at the elbow beside his own head, he kissed at the bandages, "Don't hurt yourself. We can do this anyway to make it easier."

The words had thrown some sort of aphrodisiac over Jack and he kissed him. Dal had only instructed him with a few things, stopping Jack anytime he tried to rest on his fist again, and they'd used a special storage of certain liquids for ease of entrance.

Jack was stuck there, he was terrified, impatient, and excited all at once. He brushed his lips over Dal's lightly, "J-Just t-tell me i-if I hurt y-you at a-all."

Dal grinned up at him, "Rubbish, you've been hurting your hand almost this entire time, go on. You won't hurt me."

The sound of Jack's panting in Dal's ears was the most gorgeous thing he'd ever heard, his heart skipped a few beats.

Jack slid in slowly, watching his best friend's face close, there was a grimace and he almost withdrew but Dal stopped him.

"Keep going," Dal breathed out, "Don't stop."

Jack nodded, he felt tears prickling in his eyes and he honestly could not explain why, because he wasn't sad. He brushed his lips against Dal's ear as he buried his face in the darker skinned boy's shoulder, "I love you."

In a swift motion, he'd sheathed himself completely in Dal. There was a gasp and Dal ran his hand over Jack's already sweaty neck. Sweat from being nervous, and he was almost pouring bucket's full.

"Go on," Dal said again, smiling softly and Jack pulled up to look at him, he nodded at the expression, "I love you too."

Jack smiled weakly and kissed his friend. The movement made the sweat from their bodies slick together.

Jack had managed to keep at it for a good quarter of the night, and when he'd finally collapsed, spent from their love-making and panting beside Dal, there was nothing the other boy could do in response except grab the redhead with all the strength he had left and pull him into what had to be their most heated of kisses yet.

* * *

The next morning they dressed together. Neither could control their grins as they looked at each other. The silence was comforting, and they both knew they were going to be late but they pulled each other into another kiss before they set off.

They interrupted, more like scared, the group of Rebels preparing to capture Trudy.

Dal and Jack got a walkie-talkie from Lex and decided to scout around the area together, in case there were any chosen around that could ruin the plan.

As they rounded one corner they saw the blue of robes coming at them, they knew immediately that it was an ambush, Dal tried to call for Lex through the gadget in his hands but there was no response, he chucked it at the crowd of Chosen and him and Jack made a run for it.

Jack was behind Dal, his feet were heavy and he gasped when he felt the tug at the back of his shirt. He was caught. He swung his arms to get away and Dal turned to save him.

"No Dal, don't. Go, get away!" Jack hit one in the face with his left hand, _dammit, that one was kind of broken, grimace, _and kicked the one that was holding onto his shirt.

One of their weapons came down on his upper thigh and broke through the skin, blood was everywhere. He broke away from the crowd but it was too late.

The Chosen backed Dal to the edge of a building and there was nothing he could do.

"Dal!" Jack moved to help him but something sharp struck him hard in his back, he fell to the ground without the slightest stumble, his face hit the cement hard.

"Jack! Jack!"

He heard Dal yelling his name, he heard cloth ripping and another yell but he wasn't sure who it was, all he knew was that his back felt like it'd been pierced into by a jagged dagger.

A liquidic thud filled his ears, shouting erupted around him and cries for help as his world went into darkness.

* * *

The first thing Jack felt was the throbbing headache against his skull, he opened his eyes, he looked around and saw Amber just a way away. She was staring out a window and there was no one else in the room.

Jack sat up, his shirt was missing, once again, and his pants were torn. His left leg was bare almost, the cloth was torn up to his hip and his leg was wrapped up there, the bandaging was red with blood.

He groaned and pressed his fist to his head, but his throbbing knuckles awoke something in him and he hissed in pain.

He looked around again, where was Dal?

Amber moved from the window, having heard him, she walked to his side as he laid on the bed and sat in the chair nearby.

"I wanted to be here when you woke up."

Jack looked at her and he knew immediately that something was very wrong; he heard the sadness in her voice, "Where's Dal?"

Amber shook her head at him, "We'd only just saved you from them when we saw him fall. There was nothing we could have to done to stop it." She looked away from him now and he heard her sob.

"He's alright, though?" Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing, he ground his teeth, "Dal's in another room right? He just fell that doesn't mean-"

"Jack," Amber made Jack look at her, her eyes were red with sorrow and pain.

Jack pushed her away, he wanted to stand, he wanted to bury his self in a corner and disappear. He looked at the wall longingly.

"He fell over two stories. Dal's dead."

"Don't say that!" Jack turned and looked at her angrily, "He can't be! He had to have got away! He survived! We-"

"We buried him yesterday," Amber interrupted him and grabbed his hands, "I wish there was something I could say to you, Jack."

Jack pulled his hands from her and looked her square in the eyes, "You should've let them take me. You should've left me there to die with him! I don't want to be here without him!"

"Jack!" Amber stood from her seat and glared at him, "It hurts me too, but there was nothing we could've done! He was my friend as well, he was precious to me too!"

"D-Did he say anything?" Jack was looking at the wall again and he sobbed.

Amber sat on the edge of the bed and pulled the redhead into her arms, "He just asked if you were alright, and I told him we had saved you. And... And he said that he'd see you when you woke up."

Jack felt his heart fall into his stomach, his heart cracked at the thought behind the words, how he'd lost someone so dear to him. Dal would never be here to see him wake, Dal would never wake.

"Dal, he-he can't-"

"I'm sorry." Amber rubbed his back and pulled away to look at him, "Do you want to go and see the grave?"

"Not yet."

* * *

As Jack made his way up the mountain to the grave he was glad he didn't drag Amber and Bray along for the show.

Once he saw the rocks piled he felt that it made everything more real then it had been in the past week.

The tears streamed down his cheeks as his heart throbbed in pain. He took a seat by the rocks and laid his head against them. He clutched at his chest with his right hand, he'd let his left one lay on a few of the rocks.

How would he move on from this? How could he live now, without Dal there to allow him to breathe?

Dal would never walk again, he would never breathe again, and he would never eat, or farm, or smile again. He wouldn't say 'I love you' again, he would never argue with Jack, or make him angry, or be there to console him.

He knew deep down, he had been wrong before. At least when he thought that Dal hated him that Dal had still been alive then. At least then he could see him.

Jack buried his head against the rocks and sobbed.

Yes, he had been wrong. _This _was what it felt like to die of a broken heart.

* * *

**Ending Notes:**

Wasn't that about the most sad thing you ever heard/read?

Just writing it made me cry. T_T

I'm going to make a couple more alternate endings fer you guys that did not like this ending, thank you all fer reading my fanfic, and I hope you lot liked it. Come again some time!

Review, please!?

~KaKaVegeGurl

* * *

**Reckoning**

**By: Ani Difranco**

You can doubt anything if you think about it long enough

Cuz what happened always adjusts to fit what happened after that

And it's hard to feel like you are free when all you seem to do is referee

Remember when it was just you and me steppin' up to bat?

And win or lose

Just that you choose this little war

Is what kills you

And either/or it's that this war

Is maybe also what thrills you

We thought we left possession behind

But truth is I was yours and you were mine

And now I've replayed a thousand times exactly what was said

Cuz nothing is as it appears in the fun-house mirrors of your fears

On the roller coaster of all these years with your hands above your head

And win or lose

Just that you choose this little war

Is what kills you

And either/or it's that this war

Is maybe also what thrills you

I don't care how fast you run

Just tell me, baby, that when you're done with your little marathon

You still got cab fare home cuz the finish line is a shifty thing

And what is life but reckoning and, you know

You are still the song I sing to myself

When I'm alone

And win or lose

Just that we choose this little war

Is what kills us

And either/or it's that this war

Is maybe also what thrills us


End file.
